


all its sparkles

by Spikedluv



Category: Salvation (TV)
Genre: Community: trope_bingo, First Time, In Vino Veritas, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-20 05:07:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11913852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spikedluv/pseuds/Spikedluv
Summary: Liam takes Darius up on his offer of champagne.





	all its sparkles

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place immediately after episode 1.09 and includes speculation based on the preview for 1.10.
> 
> I’m using this to fill the _In Vino Veritas/Drunk Fic_ square on my card for Round 9 of [Trope Bingo on DW](http://trope_bingo.dreamwidth.org). (Thanks to the original mod who told us to feel free to twist the prompts a bit.)
> 
> Title from Edith Wharton’s ‘The Mother’s Recompense’ – “This new resolve gave her a sort of light-headed self-confidence: when she left the dinner-table she felt so easy and careless that she was surprised to see that the glass of champagne beside her plate was untouched. She felt as if all its sparkles were whirling through her.”
> 
> Written: August 26, 2017

“Hi, I hope I’m not . . .” Liam stepped into Darius’ office with the overly-cheerful words already on his tongue. His hand came up to self-consciously rub at the back of his neck when Darius looked up at him from where he sat on the sofa, alone and deep in thought. Liam glanced around. “Did Grace leave?”

“Yes,” Darius said crisply, offering up a weak smile. “She had a family dinner to attend.”

“Oh. I . . . Jillian’s busy, too, so I thought I’d take you up on the offer of champagne, but . . .”

“Excellent,” Darius said, already rising from the sofa. “I’ve got a bottle chilling, but I didn’t want to drink alone.”

“Since when?” Liam said lightly.

Darius gave him a look as he crossed the room. “Touche.”

Liam followed Darius to the table where the ice bucket sat and watched Darius’ hands as he lifted the bottle out of the mostly-melted ice and twisted the wire to remove the foil. Darius used a cloth napkin to pull out the cork and Liam found himself grinning when his belly twisted the same way it had earlier that night when they’d successfully launched the gravity tractor at the sound of the cork popping free.

Darius returned Liam’s grin, then expertly poured the bubbly into two flutes, not spilling a drop. Liam’s fingers slid over Darius’ as he tried to take the glass Darius held out to him without dropping it. Darius tipped his flute in Liam’s direction and Liam clinked the rim of his glass to Darius’. Liam took a sip, then had to rub his nose.

Darius was watching Liam with a hint of amusement. “The bubbles tickled,” Liam explained.

“So I gathered,” Darius said after taking a sip.

“I can’t believe we pulled it off,” Liam said, in part to change the subject, and in part because he still really couldn’t believe they’d pulled it off.

Darius nodded. “We did good.”

“I also can’t believe we lied to the Secretary of Defense,” Liam said. Everything had been moving so quickly that he hadn’t had time to think about the possible repercussions for what they were doing at the time.

“It was necessary,” Darius said, “and now that Goliath has been blown up, he’ll never know.”

Darius returned to the sofa, and Liam joined him. “Did Professor Croft really . . . ?”

“Apologize? Yes.”

“I shot him,” Liam said. “I mean, he was going to shoot me so I had no choice, but . . . I’ve never had to shoot anyone before.”

“I’m sorry you had to now,” Darius said.

“He told me I was like a son to him,” Liam said. “And then he said that I was the only one who could replicate our work, so he couldn’t leave me behind. Not alive, anyway.”

Darius reached out and squeezed Liam’s shoulder. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think things turned out quite the way he thought they would for him.”

“I don’t know if that makes me feel better or not,” Liam said. He looked into Darius’ eyes. “I didn’t have a chance, with everything that was going on, but I’m sorry about Lazlo. I mean, he was kinda creepy, always appearing out of nowhere, but he was your friend . . .”

“He was my friend,” Darius said quietly. “My childhood friend, actually.”

“Really?”

“I haven’t had nearly enough to drink to be talking about this,” Darius said, getting up to refill his flute. He brought the bottle back and topped off Liam’s, as well.

~*~

Liam woke with a pounding headache and a mouth that was as dry as cotton and tasted like ass. He tested the waters by cracking open one eye, then the other. He made out the shape of a glass of water on the beside table and, when he managed to raise himself onto one elbow to reach for it, a couple of aspirin sitting beside it.

Liam had just swallowed both pills and half the glass of water when Darius strolled into the bedroom. He skirted the trail of clothes on the floor without taking his eyes off the screen of the tablet he carried. “Good,” he said, “you’re awake. Hurry up and get dressed; we’ve got work to do.”

“Okay?” Liam said to Darius’ back as he left just as enigmatically as he’d arrived.

This was only the second time Darius had come into Liam’s room (the first being when he’d apologized for being a prick), and it felt very strange. Things got a whole lot stranger when Liam swung his legs over the side of the bed and looked around, only to realize that he wasn’t in his own room.

Liam woke up quickly after that. A quick survey of the room (mainly the suits hanging in the closet) told him that he was most likely in Darius’ room, which meant he’d slept in Darius’ bed last night. A hot flush covered Liam’s chest and crawled up his neck. He slowly pushed the covers back all the way to confirm what his brain was already telling him: he was completely naked.

Liam snatched up his clothes up off the floor and got dressed as quickly as he could, as if not being naked now would change whatever had happened last night. _Nothing_ had happened last night, Liam told himself. His insistent bladder kept Liam from having to face Darius right away, and while he was in the bathroom he rinsed his mouth and splashed his face and ran wet fingers through his hair in an attempt to make it look more intentionally-mussed than bed-head. Especially since that bed was Darius’.

Finally Liam realized he couldn’t put it off any longer without it being obvious that he was hiding. He walked through Darius’ space like a man headed to the guillotine and found him in the labs, moving from station to station and giving rapid orders as if they hadn’t just successfully launched the gravity tractor that would (hopefully) save the world.

“Liam!” Darius said. “I thought you were planning to sleep all morning.”

There was nothing suggestive in Darius’ tone, but Liam couldn’t stop his brain from reminding him where he’d been sleeping. He ran a hand over his head. “Yeah, about that . . .” Liam got a closer look at Darius who didn’t look any worse for wear after finishing a bottle of champagne with Liam and only getting six hours of sleep. “How do you manage to look . . . ?” Liam waved his hand at Darius’ everything.

Darius smirked. “Good genes.” Almost immediately he turned serious again. “TESS is monitoring the gravity tractor. I’m going to keep working on Salvation. I need you to check with your friend Jillian about their progress with the 160.”

“So, yeah, about that,” Liam said. “I managed to get Jillian back because Mason wasn’t having any luck pulling the group together to come up with a consensus on the list. She, um, had two conditions.”

“She wanted to be the team leader and to know what they were really doing,” Darius said.

“Yes,” Liam said. “How did you know that?”

“I know everything,” Darius said.

“Okay. Is it . . . alright that I did that?”

“I left you in charge,” Darius said, “and you did what you thought you had to, right?”

“Yes?”

“Then it’s alright.”

“Okay. Um, I’ll just go get an update from Jillian then,” Liam said.

“You do that,” Darius said absently, his mind already on other things. “Find me when you’re done.”

~*~

As much as Liam wanted to see Jillian he realized that a shower and a change of clothes were probably in order. He didn’t know if he smelled of stale alcohol, but he didn’t want to chance it. Clean, caffeinated, and clothed in jeans and a t-shirt that were fresh from the closet and yet somehow managed to be as wrinkled as the ones he’d picked up off the floor of Darius’ bedroom – don’t think about that, Liam reminded himself – Liam went in search of Jillian.

He stood outside the conference room the 160 team was using and just watched Jillian as she stood at the head of the table and directed the others. She really was perfect for this. Jillian glanced up and saw him, so Liam waved, and then indicated that he needed to see her.

“Good morning,” Liam said when Jillian poked her head out the door, part of him hoping it was still morning. “Darius would like an update.”

Jillian nodded, then withdrew to give the team some instructions before stepping out onto the catwalk to join Liam. She studied him closely. “You look like you’ve been up all night.”

Liam groaned. “I even took a shower so I’d look presentable before I came to see you.”

Jillian smiled.

“It’s actually a champagne hangover,” Liam admitted, then lowered his voice, “I have some news to share with you.”

Jillian looked interested. “Have you eaten?”

“No,” Liam said, his stomach growling to emphasize the point.

Jillian laughed and took Liam’s arm. Together they walked to the break room and Liam found something to eat from the selection of bagels and pastries that Darius had delivered daily. He also chose a k-cup from the variety with which Darius kept the break room stocked and made himself another cup of coffee.

Jillian got a juice from the cooler, telling Liam, “I’ve already had too much caffeine,” when he gestured towards the k-cups, silently asking if she wanted him to make her a cup.

“Is there any such thing?” Liam said.

“Spoken like a grad student.”

When they were settled at a table in the corner farthest from the door, Jillian said, “You first. I could use some good news.”

“How do you know it’s good news?” Liam said.

Jillian raised an eyebrow. “People don’t usually drink champagne to celebrate bad news.”

“You got me there,” Liam said. He leaned over the table so he could lower his voice. “It is good news. We launched the gravity tractor.”

Jillian shook her head. “What’s a gravity tractor?”

“It’s going to draw the asteroid off it’s current course,” Liam said. “If all goes to plan . . .” He knocked his knuckles against the table even though it was made out of some composite material instead of wood. “. . . it’ll miss the planet entirely.”

“That, that is great news,” Jillian said.

Liam grinned as emotions inflated like a balloon inside his chest. “I know, it’s amazing.”

“So, we don’t need to choose the 160,” Jillian said.

“No, you still need to, unfortunately,” Liam said. “Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. How’s it going?”

Jillian rolled her eyes. “Given that everyone in that room but me thinks that this is just a hypothetical, no one is in any rush to make a decision.”

“Then give them a reason,” Liam said.

“You want me to tell them the truth?”

“Make it a hypothetical,” Liam said. “There’s an asteroid hurtling towards Earth and we’ve got a week to save the human race . . .”

Jillian huffed. “That might work. At least it’ll give us a ‘deadline’ to meet, which would force everyone to make a decision.” There was a moment of silence, but before it could turn too awkward, Jillian said, “Well, I should get back to it.”

“Yeah,” Liam said. “Listen, Jillian, thanks for coming back.”

Jillian pursed her lips, nodded. “I hope your gravity thing . . .”

“Tractor,” Liam filled in.

“Tractor,” Jillian repeated. “I hope it works.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Liam watched Jillian walk away, then wrapped up his bagel and carried it and his coffee in search of Darius.

~*~

They spent the rest of the afternoon and into the evening working on Salvation. Darius sent Liam to the surface every hour to check in with TESS on the status of the gravity tractor, and once Liam took the initiative and went to get sandwiches they could eat while continuing to work.

Darius finally called a break at midnight. “This project needs to be fast-tracked, but we can’t afford to make any mistakes, so we need to get some rest.”

TESS greeted them both when they walked into Darius’ apartment. “Hello, Darius, Liam.”

“Good evening, TESS,” Darius said. He went straight for the refrigerator and, to Liam’s surprise, pulled out two bottles of water. Darius handed one to Liam, then twisted the cap off the other and took a deep drink. Darius lowered the bottle and absently screwed on the top. “Did you find anything?” he finally asked.

At first Liam thought Darius was talking to him, but TESS answered almost immediately. “I did. I isolated the signal and traced it back to its source.”

“Which is?”

An image appeared in the middle of the room, startling Liam. A street view, and an address. It was the same building where Liam had discovered Resist.

“What’s going on?” Liam said.

“Did you wonder,” Darius said, “why Resist was so interested in Tanz Industries?”

“No,” Liam said. “I thought they were interested in the government secretly weaponizing that meteorite that killed a thousand people.”

“It certainly might have appeared that way,” Darius said. “It was the photos of Grace Barrows at the nuclear waste facility that made me think differently. She had nothing to do with Project Atlas, but they were following her specifically when she was on a mission for Tanz Industries.” He shrugged. “For me.”

“Who would want to do that?” Liam said.

“That’s the question, isn’t it? What were they looking for?” Darius directed to TESS.

“The stealth routine they tried to insert would’ve had eyes on every aspect of Tanz Industries,” TESS said.

“Were you able to stop them?”

“Of course, Darius.”

Darius’ lips quirked. “What did they manage to find?”

“Only what you wanted them to.”

“Thank you, TESS.”

“It was my pleasure, Darius.”

“This isn’t Resist’s MO,” Liam said.

“Nevertheless,” Darius said.

“No, I mean, what if someone put them up to it, like you asked them to create the blackout?”

Darius snapped his fingers. “While we were there they got instructions to accept the job. Someone _wanted_ them to take this job,” Darius said. “TESS.”

“Yes, Darius?”

“Can you piggyback the signal to get into Resist’s computers?”

“Of course,” TESS said. “What am I looking for?”

“Find out who’s funding them. Let me know as soon as you find anything.”

~*~

Darius opened the refrigerator again and perused its contents.

“I ordered a selection from your favorite Thai restaurant,” TESS told him helpfully.

“Thank you, TESS.”

“You’re welcome, Darius.”

“Hungry?” Darius said to Liam, holding up one of the containers.

Liam’s stomach gurgled. “I could eat.”

Darius got out bowls and warmed up the food in the microwave, then got down plates. He told Liam to sit when Liam offered to help. Liam picked at the label on the water bottle and tried to talk himself into asking Darius about the night before. He dug into the food Darius placed on the table with enthusiasm because if his mouth was full of food he didn’t need to talk.

When he pushed his plate back, Liam said, “Do you have any idea who it might be?”

“I have a few ideas,” Darius said, closing that line of conversation by getting up to do the dishes.

Liam gaped for a moment at the sight of Darius rinsing dishes, and then he stood to help. Darius didn’t tell him to sit down this time, so they got the food put away and the dishes washed and dried in record time.

“Listen, Darius,” Liam said, his back to Darius as he put the bowls back in the cupboard.

“Don’t leave Tanz Industries without security,” Darius said.

“What?” Liam said, turning to face Darius, his own line of questioning forgotten. “Why?”

“Someone is killing anyone who knows about Project Atlas.”

“You mean Amanda’s hit and run?”

“What?”

“Amanda, the reporter from Capitol Eyes,” Liam said.

“She was hit by a car?”

“Yes,” Liam said. “Who were you talking about?”

Darius sighed. “Grace.”

“Someone tried to kill Grace Barrows? How come this is the first I’m hearing about it? Why wasn’t this all over the news?”

“Because we’re keeping it quiet,” Darius said.

“How can you keep something like that quiet? Didn’t someone report it?”

“No.”

“No. That’s it, just no?”

“I was next on the list.”

“Jesus christ, Darius.”

“You weren’t mentioned,” Darius said, interrupting Liam’s freak-out, “but Harris Edwards knows that you know about Project Atlas, and we don’t know how whoever’s behind this is getting their information.”

Liam swallowed hard. “Right.” In light of the information that someone might want to kill him, talking about last night shouldn’t be that difficult. “Listen, Darius,” Liam started again. “About last night . . .”

“We probably shouldn’t have drunk an entire bottle of champagne ourselves,” Darius mused. “Especially on an empty stomach.”

“Ya think?” Liam said.

Darius smiled at that, and Liam was struck breathless by the sight of it. A few moments passed before Liam remembered what he’d been trying to ask. “Why did I spend the night in your bed?” Liam said, his heart pounding in his chest.

“Because I wasn’t about to carry you to your room,” Darius said.

“I was naked,” Liam said.

“You undressed yourself,” Darius said, which was still no help.

“Darius!” Liam said, frustrated with his own inability to just _ask_. “Did we . . . ?”

“Ah,” Darius said. “You can’t remember.”

“Remember what?” Liam squeaked.

Darius’ eyes moved over Liam’s body, which caused Liam’s stomach to do somersaults.

“We didn’t have sex, if that’s what you’re trying to ask.”

“Okay,” Liam said, suddenly not sure if he was happy about that answer or not.

“Not penetrative sex, anyway.”

Liam’s eyes went wide, and then he saw the amused expression on Darius’ face. “Are you fucking with me right now?”

“No pun intended?” Darius said, then laughed at whatever expression he saw on Liam’s face.

“You asshole!” Liam said. “Seriously, you’re an asshole.”

“So I’ve been told,” Darius said. He shrugged. “Many times, actually. Would you like me to jog your memory for you?”

“Yes!” Liam said. “Please.”

Darius moved closer to Liam, and Liam suddenly realized that the kitchen area was pretty tiny. He took a step backwards and ran into the edge of the counter. Darius reached out and touched Liam’s face, brushing the pad of his thumb over Liam’s cheekbone.

“You’re a very talkative drunk,” Darius said.

“Last time I got drunk I punched someone,” Liam said. “He punched me more,” he admitted.

Darius smiled. He bent his head and leaned in towards Liam. Liam watched Darius’ lips until Darius was so close that he couldn’t see them anymore, and then he raised his eyes to meet Darius’. Darius paused, so close that Liam could feel Darius’ soft breaths, the heat radiating off him.

Liam grabbed the counter and held on as if he might fly away without a tether. He jerked forward and brought their lips together. Darius hesitated, as if he was surprised by Liam’s move, and then he pushed forward, his body coming up against Liam’s, his hand tilting Liam’s head so he could deepen the kiss.

Liam moaned into the kiss. He released the counter and brought his hands around to hold on to Darius, though using him as a tether when he was the one making Liam feel all floaty was probably counterproductive. Darius’ hand slid down Liam’s back. When it reversed direction it took the hem of Liam’s shirt with it so that the warmth of Darius’ hand brushed the bare skin of Liam’s back.

Liam pressed closer to Darius and invited him to deepen the kiss even more. As their bodies rubbed together and Darius’ tongue plundered his mouth, memories from last night flashed through Liam’s mind: the two of them talking on the sofa, Darius pouring more champagne, Darius helping Liam to the bedroom, Liam staring at the boxers he’d removed in confusion before crawling under the covers, the room going dark . . .

Liam broke the kiss. “We didn’t do anything last night.”

Darius managed to look both amused and caught out. “Um . . .”

They could stop now. Or they could do some of the things that Liam had been imagining all day. Darius made a soft sound of surprise when Liam kissed him again. He opened to Liam’s tongue and rocked to meet Liam when Liam rolled his hips forward.

~*~

“Darius,” TESS said.

Liam woke, groaning and covering his eyes when Darius rolled over and turned on the light to check the time.

“What is it, TESS?”

“I’ve have the information you requested about the person funding Resist.”

Darius bolted upright. Liam caught himself staring and looked away from the bare skin revealed when the sheet dropped to his lap. “Who is it?” Darius demanded.

“Nicholas Tanz,” TESS said.

Liam quickly sat up. “What?” He looked at Darius, who looked shaken, but not as shocked as Liam would have thought to find out that his own uncle was behind this. “You don’t look surprised.”

“I’m not,” Darius said. “Not really.”

“What does he want?”

Darius shrugged. “Any number of things. Access to my research. Information he could use to ruin me.”

“He doesn’t know about the asteroid and the gravity tractor, does he?”

“TESS?” Darius said.

“I caught the stealth routine before it got that far,” TESS said.

“What about Salvation?” Liam said.

“There’s a reason that installation is on its own network,” Darius said. He threw back the covers and Liam unabashedly stared while Darius pulled on clothes.

Liam shook himself. “What are you doing?”

“Now that I know who it is I can plan accordingly,” Darius said. “I’m going to chose some projects to make a higher priority and ensure my uncle has his hands full figuring out the best way to ruin me.”

“Got any failed projects laying around?” Liam said.

Darius paused in dressing to stare at Liam. “That’s brilliant. I knew there was a reason I hired you.”

“Right,” Liam said, but he couldn’t stop a flush of pleasure. He threw the covers on his side of the bed back and reached for the boxers he’d slept without for a second night in a row (although this time he hadn’t been the one removing them).

“What are you doing?”

“Helping.”

“You should get some more sleep.”

“This is more important,” Liam said. Tellingly, Darius didn’t argue with that.

Darius waited for Liam to pull his shirt on and grab his shoes. He curled his hand around the back of Liam’s neck and gave him a kiss. “Let’s go make sure my uncle doesn’t screw up our plans to save the world.”

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Liam said, breathless, and followed Darius on bare feet.

The End

**Author's Note:**

> For writing updates and reblogs of my favorite fandoms (currently a lot of Sterek, Zude, Malec and Sebastian Stan always), follow me on Tumblr, where I’m also [Spikedluv](http://spikedluv.tumblr.com/).


End file.
